What really happened?

[gyroblackwell]

I am bringing this to the forum in hopes of ending the negative thoughts, and comments, and bringing you all up to speed.

I am the guy that let this get out of hand, and I apologize for doing so.
Had I taken a step back and evaluated the situation before shooting my mouth off to the Web committee, things might not have gotten this carried away.

I will not take blame for the short sightedness of some people, and the trashing of the classifieds section. I will say that communication was the fault(or should I say LACK of ....) I was in such a hurry to complete the website, by adding the classifieds, that I did not make it clear to the committee, that a FREE classifieds section will only hurt the already bad money situation that We all are facing. The PRA Magazine relys on the small but continuos funding
that the classifieds section brings in.

When eager beaver (former members) start taking advantage of our organization, then people that see the cash flow , and seeing the outcome of the free-bee hurting that cash flow .... become re-active intsead of pro-active.

I failed to inform the original webmaster of the committee's intention to provide a short term free classifieds to see if this would help bring more members in, and bring back the members that dropped out.

Long term..... the classifieds will be a "pay for service" section, just as E-bay
gets funding for services. The plus side of the "web-classifieds" is that your
ad is up on the net quickly, and the results are better. Pictures can be
added, and the cost is good for the results provided.

I in tern did not react in a way that would have put a quick end to this drama, but instead let my pride, and outrage get the better of me.

I will defend the removal of the new sight, returning to the oldsite. This was the deal I made with the original webmaster if the direction the site was working towards was not accepted by the original webmaster.

The committee kept up it's end of the deal, and returned everything to it's original state.

I allowed my frustration to bleed off to my fellow webmasters, and all-hell-broke-loose.

Please accept my apologies for this lack of wisdom on my part.

The committee will be putting the new site back online, and a new means
of communication is being worked out as I type.

I agree whole-heartedly with Greg Gremminger, we need to stick together, and work through the current problems. We are the PRA, and only We can make things better.

I have asked the former members to return to the group, and work with me to
make the PRA website the best it can be. I hope that all parties involved will let this fade to the past, and work to resolve any disention that lurks in the
shadows.

I have a new found understanding of what the Elected board members must go through, and how one persons hot-tempered action, can lead to all out mutany over a little miss-understanding.

Thanks for your time, and please help the committee to return things to normal.

[Dean_Dolph]

Ah, how refreshing to find someone that accepts their accountability! Tim, you guys have done a great job and all of us have stubbed our toe at one time or another. It hurts at the time but if we are wise we are able to learn from it and avoid obstacles that might cause us to stub it again.

Everyone needs to remember that the key to preventing and/or solving problems is communication, communication communication. And when that doesn't work we need to try communication!

It takes two parties to sucessfully communicate, the talker and the listener. Most of us are good at talking but listening is another matter. But it usually the talker that has the most at stake so that person should seek assurance that the listerner has heard the correct message by asking for feedback. That goes double if you are talking to a deaf guy like me! You guys are making an honest effort so I feel confident that everything will work out for all of us.

Again, ThanX PRA Web Team!

[Brian Jackson]

Tim,
I regret having had to remove myself from the comittee for survival work, but I'm saddened by this. You were kind of between the proverbial "rock & a hard place", and was obligated to ditch the site per applicable objections. I completely understand, and certainly don't envy the position you were put in.

Each body honored the other's terms and that is that. Though disappointing, nobody can cry "Foul" if those were the agreed-upon terms. Nobody's at fault that I can see.

It's instinctive to want to "take sides" on any issue, but in this case there's no "side" to take; It's ultimately to benefit the PRA or nobody would have volunteered.

May I suggest a possible compromise? Since the Classifieds generate needed income for the PRA, why not have that section of the site password-protected by a code derived from their PRA membership number?

FURTHERMORE, let non-member web site visitors see the rotorcraft out there for sale but the phone numbers, email addresses and contact info is hidden from public view until they sign up for membership. Once they join and are issued a passcode they can see the contact info on the site, but not until.

The only drawback I could see is that it gives the online members an unfair advantage over those whom only get the magazine to purchase something immediately while the mags are in the mail. One way around this (which may help PRA revenue) is to charge a little more for a "Full-Web + Magazine" subscription as opposed to a "Magazine-Only" membership.

This scenario might make sense to a lot of folks whom already have Gyros and don't really want the Classified section.

There's a lot of ways a "Silver or Gold" package could be divided up... I'm just throwing out a suggestion that might stand a chance of making everyone happy.

Brian Jackson

[jdalexa]

Having member only classifieds will only send a classified ads site somewhere else. Places like Barnstormers and others. There WILL be a free on-line classifed site. Be sure of that - the site is already configured and live, just waiting to be announced. I am completely committed to that. PRA can host it and we have a model by which PRA can most likely derive revenue or PRA can miss the boat. Their call.

Brian, you are right on with the "Full-Web + Magazine" thing. We also have other ideas. Like, we'll post your ad for you on-line if you don't wanna deal with it - for a very nominal fee. It's been well thought out.

People should be able to post ads for free for at least a limited period of time. Those who want to buy should not have to be "in the club" to find gyros to buy. Limiting availability will do nothing to increase membership. That ability for anyone, member or not, to find rotorcraft to buy will NOT be limited. Take that as a fact.

It's a known thing that people buying a given type of flying machine will want to hang with like minded folk. This is a great opportunity for PRA. Yeah, there is risk, but that's another constant of life. Time to shake the jar and break out of the old ways of thinking. Life, the universe, and everything move on.

Oh yeah... one more thing Brian.... I thought it over and indeed your statement about 2 into 1 is correct. For while 1 and 1 CAN equal 3 for large values of 1, those values are still less than 2 and therefore 2 cannot fit into 1 since no matter how large a value of 1, 1 and 1 can't equal 4.

Of course..... 1 and 1 does equal 11 (mu har har)

With that - more tastey malt based beverage.

[Ted Eggleston]

1 and 1 can't equal 4.

John, apparently in Zimbabwe 1 + 1 does equal four if your Robert Mugabe.

At the last set of elections, a number of seats were considerable less in population than the votes counted for his representative. So all those hours spent in school learning to count... well seems to be a waste of damn time.

There's obviously a new method I haven't been taught.

Ted

[gyroblackwell]

Thanks all for your input and understanding. One day soon things will really start to move into the new age of the NET and all it's accomplishments.

The committee will get the ball rolling again, and the Website is now back up and running under it's new face!

Please support the website in any way you can so that we can show the PRA what it's site can do for it's members and the gyro community in general !

Thanks again,

[jdalexa]

John, apparently in Zimbabwe 1 + 1 does equal four if your Robert Mugabe.

At the last set of elections, a number of seats were considerable less in population than the votes counted for his representative. So all those hours spent in school learning to count... well seems to be a waste of damn time.

There's obviously a new method I haven't been taught.

Ted

Heh... well.. one beer plus one beer equals me wanting one more beer.

Beer is goooooood

Aside from that... bring on Mugabe. On the web, I am one baaaaad dude. :D